Functional and Clinical Implications :
RAD54 is a core constituent of the RAD52 epistasis group that encodes the proteins that are essential for HR (Homologous recombination) in eukaryotes. Rad54 protein is a member of the Snf2-family of SF2 helicases that contains many prominent chromatin-remodeling proteins including Snf2, ISWI and others. This group of proteins shares a common core that includes seven motifs proposed to identify helicases (PMID: 16935872). Rather than operating like DNA helicases, which are capable of separating the strands of duplex DNA, the Snf2-related proteins are viewed as motor proteins that translocate on duplex DNA and remodel specific protein–duplex DNA complexes (PMID: 19234488). The particular functions of these proteins appear to involve specific protein interactions mediated by domains outside the core motor domain (PMID: 12826279). Similar to Swi2/Snf2 and Mot1, Rad54 is a dsDNA-dependent ATPase without DNA helicase activity (PMID: 9590697). Rad54 protein can dissociates rad51 protein from linear dsDNA and the modulation of ATPase activity of rad54 by rad51 correlates with rad51 dissociation (PMID: 11080452). Rad54 protein has been implicated in nearly all mechanistic stages of HR, except DNA end resection, mutants lacking Rad54 accumulate nonrepair-associated complexes that can block growth and lead to chromosome loss (PMID: 21357745, PMID: 25765654).
